


Diamonds Are A Pearl's Best Friend

by ProblematicPines



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Forbidden Love, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Pre-Canon, Unhappy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:15:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23722939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProblematicPines/pseuds/ProblematicPines
Summary: A gloved hand removed itself from Pearl’s shoulder and instead cupped her cheek. If Pearl was on edge before about the otherworldly contact, then this was truly surreal. The touch, so tender and soft it was almost like it wasn’t there at all, was one that caused Pearl’s breath to catch in her throat; her pink eyes were fixed on the gloved hand, staring at the intricate creases and overlapping folds in the silky material. Pearl’s face was growing warm, too warm; was she about to lose her form? It certainly felt like it.“What…” Pearl repeated, breathless. “What kind of game are we playing, my Diamond?”For once, Pink never responded. She just tenderly rubbed circles across her Pearl’s cheek with her thumb, observing how the other’s form dipped under her caressing motions. Such small intricacies, such small details that they were completely unnoticeable any other time. Pink handled her Pearl like she was made of the finest porcelain, like at any moment she would crack under her touch and shatter into a million shards.But Pearl didn’t crack, nor did she shatter. She was as still as her rosy-cheeked Diamond, eyes fixed on the hand that touched her with such tenderness.
Relationships: Pink Diamond/Pink Diamond's Pearl (Steven Universe)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 22





	Diamonds Are A Pearl's Best Friend

“I have a game we can play.”

Pink Diamond randomly said this one night, while she and her loyal Pearl were sitting in Pink’s lonesome palace. The two Gems had been sitting in a comfortable silence for a while, just sitting in the crystalline chamber and staring out into the Homeworld night. The only way they could tell that it was night-time was because the usual slate-grey sky had darkened to a broody pink, and Homeworld’s capital city had all of its lights turned up to maximum, illuminating the towering architecture like stars. The stars themselves twinkled high above the planet, bright and glittering, hundreds of thousands of miles away from their reach.

Pink Diamond and her Pearl spent much longer than they liked just surveying Homeworld, since neither of them had any other choice. It wasn’t like the tiny Diamond had any colonies to run or any real duties to attend to; she didn’t even have her own Court. Not really. Her Pearl was all she had.

And Spinel, of course, but she mostly spent her time in Pink’s private garden in the remote depths of space.

Upon hearing her Diamond speak, Pearl turned her head. Her pink eyes sparked with curiosity, and a smile spread across her face.

“Oh, yes!” she exclaimed, chipper as ever. “What kind of game do you have in mind, my Diamond?”

She was a huge fan of her Diamond’s games; Pink always knew what to do when either of them were feeling down. Pink would juggle her bubbles like a performer, or create a new Pebble for them to play with. Sometimes they’d cut down shreds of material from the silky curtains and make tiny outfits out of them. Or even sneak out of Pink’s vast, empty palace and play hide-and-seek in the cavernous, whistling halls of Homeworld. In corridors huge enough for a Diamond to stride through, there were more than enough sneaky nooks and crannies for the two much smaller Gems to slip into when playing their games.

This time, however, Pink didn’t quite have the same look on her face as the other times she proclaimed a new game for them to play.

Her eyes, with their distinctive diamond-shaped pupils, still burned with a passion that accompanied her other _“Eureka”_ moments, but there was something else there too. Was it Pearl’s imagination, or was her face a little pinker than usual? A little rosier in the cheeks?

Pink Diamond peered around. They were the only ones in the palace, as far as she could tell. She stared at the hexagonal door, as if expecting Yellow or Blue to come storming in at any moment, but it remained closed. Pearl sat up on her haunches, palms pressed flat on her knees as she awaited eagerly for whatever ideas her Diamond had in mind to pass the time. The larger Gem inched closer to her Pearl, moving like any sudden movement would set off some kind of trap. When she was sitting in front of her eager-eyed Pearl, the Diamond reached out with trepid hands and took a hold of her Pearl.

Pearl, being unused to physical contact of this kind, instinctively shied away from her Diamond’s touch, unsure about how to feel about the situation. The last time Pink Diamond had put her hands on her, she...didn't like it.

But she was wordlessly placated when Pink gently eased her up so that she was kneeling against her Diamond’s crossed legs, hands still cupped around the smaller Gem’s shoulders.

“What…?”

Pink Diamond’s eyes glimmered with something that Pearl couldn’t quite place, something she had never really seen before. A dusting of red had darkened Pink’s cheeks, and her lips were quivering slightly. Was her Diamond in pain? Was she worried about something? Or was this all a part of this strange new game the Diamond had come up with?

A gloved hand removed itself from Pearl’s shoulder and instead cupped her cheek. If Pearl was on edge before about the otherworldly contact, then this was truly surreal. The touch, so tender and soft it was almost like it wasn’t there at all, was one that caused Pearl’s breath to catch in her throat; her pink eyes were fixed on the gloved hand, staring at the intricate creases and overlapping folds in the silky material. Pearl’s face was growing warm, too warm; was she about to lose her form? It certainly felt like it.

“What…” Pearl repeated, breathless. “What kind of game are we playing, my Diamond?”

For once, Pink never responded. She just tenderly rubbed circles across her Pearl’s cheek with her thumb, observing how the other’s form dipped under her caressing motions. Such small intricacies, such small details that they were completely unnoticeable any other time. Pink handled her Pearl like she was made of the finest porcelain, like at any moment she would crack under her touch and shatter into a million shards.

But Pearl didn’t crack, nor did she shatter. She was as still as her rosy-cheeked Diamond, eyes fixed on the hand that touched her with such tenderness. A stark polar opposite to how Pink usually used her hands.

Pearl looked at her Diamond’s face then, and took note of the glossy look in her diamond eyes. They sparkled and swam with a light that radiated some kind of untapped emotion, some kind of powerful, radiating force that caused her physical form to thrum with energy. Her plump lips were slightly parted, and her delicate face was framed by her mane of curly, off-white hair.

The palace was crushingly silent, almost like they weren’t even in there at all.

“My-”

Pearl was cut off when Pink cupped her face with both hands, and pulled her in for the most bizarre physical interaction she’d ever experienced. Pink’s plump, pink lips were pressed down onto Pearl’s, who was awestruck. Her hands were frozen in mid-pose; she didn’t know if she wanted to push her Diamond off, or tenderly take hold of her Diamond’s face as well and press into this...this kiss herself. Either way, it was such a startling moment that it almost seemed like time had frozen completely.

Pink’s kiss was tender, and loving. She tasted like...like strawberries, like she’d been eating strawberries and now Pearl imagined her own lips tasting like strawberries too. Her Diamond’s hair fell across the top of her head a little, plush curls coiling in front of her shocked, wide eyes. Her Gem was fizzing with energy, and it was almost like a supernova was exploding within her chest at that very moment.

It was an amazing, impossible feeling, and Pearl found herself revelling in it.

Pink kissed her Pearl what felt like an eon, but what was probably mere seconds. When the Diamond pulled away, her eyes were brimming with energy, and her face was bright red. Her lips were quivering, slightly redder from the kiss, and Pearl herself couldn’t close her shocked mouth.

A few moments of tense, unbroken silence passed between them; the two stared at one another, wide-eyed and wordless, until Pink seemingly came to her senses. The glossy, shining look in her eyes disappeared, replaced by an abject horror that made her face go several shades lighter.

“Pearl, I’m- Oh my stars, Pearl, I’m so sorry, I-”

Pink vomited up a plethora of apologies, begging for her Pearl’s forgiveness. She took a hold of the tiny Gem’s thin shoulders and squeezed her, lacking any of the tenderness she’d previously shown towards her. Pearl stared at her in shocked silence, still reeling from the encounter. She had no idea what to make of it, much less what she should do now.

“-It was just an experiment, it didn’t mean anything. I was just curious because I saw other Gems doing it and I thought, ‘Why can’t I do that too? I’m a Diamond too!’ But I never intended to make you feel like this, Pearl. I’m so sorry, I can make it up to y-”

This time, it was the Pearl that kissed the Diamond. Though not as explosive and life-changing as the first, this kiss was still electrifying enough to effectively cut off her Diamond’s words. After a moment, Pink kissed back.

They continued like this for a short while, until they both drew back. Pink-cheeked and glossy-eyed, the two Gems stared at one another, until their mouths turned up into beaming smiles.

“Pearl…” Pink whispered, looking starstruck.

“Yes, my Diamond?” echoed Pearl, trembling with excitement.

“I think we have a new game we can play.”

\--

From then on, Pink Diamond and her loyal Pearl engaged in one of the most frowned upon taboos in Homeworld’s constraining regime: a relationship. Not only that, but a relationship between a Diamond, one of the most perfect and radiant and glamorous and beautiful beings to have ever lived (in the eyes of their followers), and a Pearl, something not even worthy of the slightest shred of respect. It was simply asinine to even consider the possibility of a Diamond allowing herself to be tainted by the touch of such a grovelling, worthless Gem; and yet, Pink and her Pearl were engaging in the worst case of class treachery a Gem could imagine.

Still, that didn’t stop them from spending every available moment of free time with one another. It’s not like a Pearl was able to stray away from her Owner anyway, but a Pearl also wasn’t allowed to engage in a rendezvous with a Diamond.

During the agonizingly-long meetings with the other Diamonds, whose own Pearls stood perfectly still and wordlessly silent at the foot of their towering crystalline thrones, Pink would play with her Pearl. She’d mess with her tightly-curled buns, play with her flowing skirt, and whisper jokes to her. Said Pearl would giggle softly behind her hand and whisper jokes back, only to freeze up and fall back into line when one of the other Diamonds would take note of their lack of paying attention.

When said meetings were over and Pink had been scolded thrice over by each Diamond, the tiny Diamond and her loyal Pearl would make a run from the throne room back to Pink’s palace. There, they’d laugh and joke about how uptight and miserable the Diamonds were. Then, they’d collapse into one another and press kisses to one another’s faces. Since Pink was bigger than her Pearl, her whole body curled in and around the skinny Gem. They’d giggle and squirm away from one another’s touch, hues of pink dusting their cheeks.

Sometimes, they’d even be daring and go as far as holding hands in plain view of other Gems, if only for a moment. Pearl’s head only came level with Pink Diamond’s mid-thigh, so it was easily excused as a Pearl handing her Owner something she’d desired.

Once, on one of Pink’s tours of Homeworld, she and Pearl kissed in the middle of a vast, empty corridor - immediately before a swarm of Quartz soldiers came surging around the corner. The two ducked away into a tiny alcove that all of the burly Gems thundered past, pressed up against one another uncomfortably in the tiny confines. Yes, Pink was the tiniest Diamond, but she was still a Diamond, and therefore, quite large compared to her Pearl. Still, the two had shared a look and giggled softly to one another, laughing at how close they’d been to getting caught.

To them, it was just a harmless game.

At least, it was to Pink.

\--

At one point, Pearl discovered a certain word she previously didn’t have in her personal dictionary. It was a word she’d never really heard before, but as soon as she heard it being used by one of the other Pearls (the lanky, nasally-voiced one with the pompous attitude and upturned nose), she knew immediately that it represented her feelings exactly. For a long while, Pearl hadn’t been able to put a word to the exact feelings she felt about her Diamond. Of course, there was the undying loyalty and respect she had for the bigger Gem, but there was also the electric spark that accompanied their illicit relationship thrown into the mix. It was one big sizzling, confusing pot of feelings that she couldn’t make heads nor tails of.

But now, she could.

And it was such a simple word to use, too. One that she was sure Pink would understand and reciprocate.

Pearl had decided to tell her Diamond right after she’d finished talking to White Diamond. Pink never spoke directly to White. Actually, no. Pink DID try her best to speak to White, whether it was by heading straight to White’s palace herself or when the other Diamonds were present in the throne room. Instead, it was White who never spoke to Pink. She’d always brush her off with a dismissive “I’ll discuss it with you later, Pink,” or “Run along, Starlight”. It was a hopeless endeavour on Pink’s part; it was almost as though White didn’t want to talk to her own fellow Diamond, which already set a bad precedent for the founding mothers of Homeworld.

Pearl had been waiting outside White’s towering crystalline palace, whose walls sparkled and shone like the Diamond it belonged to. She’d been waiting for an awfully long time. That day, Pink had gone to Yellow and Blue already, and they hadn’t kept her waiting for this long. It was the same old deal: Pink wanted a colony of her own. The Diamonds already had a dozen between them, yet Pink hadn’t a single colony. For a Diamond, it was embarrassing to not have conquered at least one planet yet. Pink didn’t even have her own court, either.

_“Whatever response she gets from White, I’m sure my new word will help cheer her up,”_ Pearl thought to herself.

A few moments later, the entrance to White’s palace opened, and out stepped Pink. Pearl rushed over to her Diamond, beaming from bun to bun. “Oh, my Diamond!” she chirped. “How did it go with White?”

In her eagerness, Pearl didn’t notice the dark shadow that had fallen across Pink’s face. Her gloved hands, the same hands that had so tenderly touched and stroked her face like it was made from the finest porcelain, were clenched into shaking fists by her sides. Her lips, the same plump lips that had kissed Pearl’s own so many times before, were set in a hard, unforgiving line, uncomfortably close to an animalistic snarl.

“Come along, Pearl,” Pink stated coldly.

Pearl blinked, frowning.

“My Diamond?”

“ _Now_ , Pearl.” Pink commanded, already striding off in the direction of her own palace. Pearl, not being allowed to linger behind her Diamond, rushed to keep up.

Pink was taking long, purposeful strides; each step seemed to pound into the ground harder than the last, and Pearl was certain she could feel the structural integrity of the path cracking underneath Pink’s feet.

“What’s wrong, my Diamond? Did something-”

“Not now, Pearl.”

Pink’s words were gritty and harsh, laced with an underlying anger that sent chills down Pearl’s back. A lingering feeling she hadn’t felt in a while was beginning to rise up in her stomach; it was fear.

She had a word for that, all right.

Pearl found herself dragging her feet, trying to put off getting to the palace so soon. She knew what was going to happen as soon as the door closed, and the curtains were drawn.

But she’d been doing well, hadn’t she?

She’d been sweet and complicit as any good Pearl should be; she’d let Pink play her games and she’d done everything her Diamond had asked of her.

So why was she feeling so afraid again?

It had been ages since Pink had last had an outburst. She’d apologized then, and had promised that she’d never do anything to hurt her again. So that meant she wasn’t going to have an outburst now, and that Pearl was totally safe in the arms of her Diamond, and that Pink wasn’t going to have to hide herself and her Pearl away in the palace for several days until her injuries had healed.

That meant she was going to be able to tell Pink her new word.

The word “love”.

Pearl loved her Diamond, and she knew that her Diamond loved her back.

They just had a different way of showing it.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeahhhhhhhh  
> I think you all know where this Fic ends up going. :'C
> 
> I didn't set out writing this Fic intending for it to end with an allure to abuse. In fact, it was supposed to be about how Pearl falls in love with Pink following their first kiss, and how Pink Diamond merely thinks of their hugging, kissing, and touching as merely another game she came up with. She doesn't actually love her Pearl, not in that way.  
> The abuse subplot came in while I was writing it, and I think I like it more this way. It adds an extra layer to their relationship, and makes Pink Pearl's undying love for her Diamond all the more tragic.  
> I am a firm believer in the idea that Pink grew as a person following the loss of her original Pearl, and became a genuinely good person as Rose Quartz, even if her past is very problematic. 
> 
> But that still doesn't excuse the abuse that Pink Pearl suffered at the hands of her Diamond, both in this Fic and canonically.
> 
> I think I might be writing more Pink Diamond-centric Fics in future, so if you'd like to read more about my take on Pink Diamond, then please stick around.
> 
> As always, thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to read my FanFiction. Comments and kudos are very much appreciated, as they let me know that all my hard work is being put to good use! Until next time!


End file.
